Civil War
Location: Felton, California Date: May 26, 1990 Story It was May 26, 1990 in Felton, California. People were participating in a reenactment of a Civil War battle staged by the National Civil War Association for Memorial War weekend. The Confederate Army came up on the hill to an open field area. They swept forward and engaged the Union Army within 200 yards away. 49-year-old Bert Huffman, a captain in the Confederate Army, called for the flanking movement. But they couldn't hold the Union Army back and they lost the battle. Once the battle was done, the participants who were "killed in action" got up and rejoined their battalion. Jim Mitchell, who served the Confederate Army as usual, joined up his friend, Sergeant Jim North. They talked about how well the battle had gone and had a good show while going to their friend and commander, Bert. While Mitchell and Sergeant North were coming to meet him, he collapsed. They rushed to him and realized he was having a heart attack, since he had a history of heart problems. Sergeant North yelled out for a medic and Mitchell tilted his head back to help him breathe. Sergeant North tried quickly to remove Bert's uniform and get his Nitroglycerin inside the pocket since, before the battle started, he mentioned that if he went down to get them. North got them and put one in Bert's mouth, but he had already passed out and stopped breathing. Mitchell, a firefighter by profession, immediately started CPR on Bert as someone called 911. "Bert is my best buddy and we went through a lot together. And I kept shaking my head and I just said he can't die. He just can't die," Sergeant North recalled. Two medics showed up with a trauma kit and an ambu bag. They began breathing for Bert as Mitchell continued with chest compressions. It was difficult to do so with him being a large, barrel-chested man. Despite best efforts to ventilate, the air wasn't going to his lungs and he started changing color. "They don't make a man like Bert. He's everybody's friend, he's everybody's confidante, he's everybody's teacher. It just doesn't come any better," Mitchell admitted. An announcer asked on the speaker if there was a doctor in the audience. Bert's wife, Dale, was also working in the reenactment when one of his friends told her that he was down. Knowing that his heart was unstable since he had previous heart attacks and two bypass operations, she rushed over to him. When she saw his condition, her heart sank. "I've seen Bert in real bad shape before, but I had not seen him this bad," Dale stated. Dale sent word to family friend Susan Jones, who was a registered nurse participating in the reenactment. To get to Bert, she had to get through the crowd. When she arrived, she helped the medics tend to his care. Despite all efforts from Mitchell and the others, his color was not changing as they waited for an ambulance with advanced life support more than 10 miles away. Dr. David Arakaki, an anesthesiologist who was in the parking lot ready to leave when he heard the call for a doctor, arrived. He assessed Bert and found out his soft tissue and tongue was obstructing the larynx, despite all neck, jaw ,and head maneuvers. He knew that Bert needed advanced life support equipment, which they do not have. "I thought this is it, they can't keep him going this long," Sergeant North recalled as Mitchell was getting worn out, but he didn't stop in order to keep Bert alive until an ambulance arrived. Within 12 minutes of Bert's collapse, a medic unit with the Felton Fire Department including Captain Dave Newell, arrived. Two men on horseback in Civil War outfits told them to follow them and led them to Bert. As they arrived, they took over Bert's care. Dale told Newell that they had to zap him with a defibrillator since his heart won't restart without it. Newell told her that they didn't have the paddles. "It was very disheartening for me to tell her, "Sorry, ma'am. We don't have the paddles. We're a volunteer fire department and couldn't afford them." That was a hard pill to swallow," Newell stated. The ambulance with paramedics and advanced life support equipment was still miles away. "I can tell by the people working on him that was he getting in more and more serious condition. What was going through my mind was this could be the end. After being married and being together for so long, I think the thing I'd miss the most would be his sense of humor and his honoringness. I can't imagine what it would be like without having Bert around," Dale recalled. Moments later, an advanced life support unit arrived. Bert had been without a heartbeat for more than 20 minutes. After defibrillating him twice with no effect, Sergeant North thought that he was dead. Paramedics found some electrical activity on Bert. They tried to put a tube in his throat, but they were having a hard time. Dr. Arakaki, with Susan assisting him, performed an operation to put it in. Once they did so, the paramedics put oxygen in and Bert's color improved. Around four minutes of getting some medications, he started to get a weak pulse, but they didn't know if they could keep it going. As the ambulance was leaving, all the participants saluted in respect and hope. "I just remember standing here, thinking, "God, not Bert. Not Bert," Mitchell sadly recalled. While en route to Dominican Hospital, Bert crashed and a defibrillator was used again in order to get his heart shocked into beating again. But the oxygen to his brain had been swept for so long, there was little knowing that he would survive without severe brain damage. Dr. Raj Singh, the cardiologist on call, took charge of his care. He found that Bert had a good blood pressure and a reasonable pulse rate, but he was completely comatose. He told Dale that if Bert survived the hospitalization, there was a good chance that he would never walk or talk again. That night, Dale and Susan stood by Bert and talked to him in the ICU. Susan took his hand and asked him to squeeze it, which he did. Dale asked him to do the same with hers and he did. "He could hear us and move. I thought he was gonna make it. I knew he was gonna make it," Dale stated in relief One year later, to the surprise and amazement to almost everyone, Bert had fully recovered from his near fatal massive heart attack. He had made changes in his lifestyle and continued to take medication, but he survived the toughest battle of his life. "I remember nothing by the time I dropped until about six or seven days later when I woke up in the hospital. I'm lucky to be alive from what they told me," Bert stated. "My wife and I have become closer together because we both live one day at the time, one minute at the time. Because you never know when it's gonna hit." Bert was still involved in the National Civil War Association. He now commanded the cannons where he didn't have to walk or anything. After he finished reenactments, he still walked away from it with the biggest grin in his face every time he got through. "It just makes me really happy to see him out there. It really does." "When Bert and I walk around today, it still amazes me. I think, 'Boy, buddy. You came so close.' He's the exception, not the role with heart attack cases, especially being down for as long as he was. CPR saved his life and all these people helping out that day helped keep him alive," Susan said. "There he is standing there, still talking and laughing. It just...you think what a hole there be would be if he hadn't survived. Being a firefighter, the greatest thing in my profession is to save a life. The greatest life to save is the life of a friend," Mitchell said. Category:1990 Category:California Category:Heart Attacks Category:Cardiac Arrest